This application describes UAB?s plans for a new program to recruit and develop individuals who combine an interdisciplinary outlook with a special interest in oral research, and to prepare them for productive careers in an increasingly collaborative scientific world. It will allow post-doctoral trainees and faculty to pursue a coordinated course of study combining training in infection and immunity or engineering science specialty with patient-oriented research. The application is in response to PA number PAR-00-l16, for a new NRSA. UAB?s program is designed exclusively for trainees who already hold doctorates in a scientific, engineering, medical, or dental field. Three areas of concentration will be offered: infection and immunity, biomedical engineering, and patient-oriented research. Each long-term postdoctoral trainee will be required to select both a major and a minor concentration, one of which must generally include patient-oriented research (encompassing translational, clinical trials, epidemiology, and/or community-oriented research). Depending on his/her interests and goals, the trainee then chooses a program leading to the M.S. or Ph.D. degree, or a non-degree program (particularly valuable to mid-career professionals wishing to strengthen their research skills). Short-term training for dental students and faculty is available. We have also provided for individualized training programs, to accommodate highly motivated individuals with well-conceived plans that do not fit the general schema. Dr. Marjorie Jeffcoat, as program director, has overall responsibility for the program and ultimate responsibility for selecting the trainees and overseeing their progress. Dr. Suzanne Michalek directs the infection and immunity concentration, Dr. Linda Lucas directs the biomedical engineering concentration, and Dr. Larry Moreland (director of the UAB General Clinical Research Center) directs the Patient Oriented Research concentration. The experience and high caliber of those individuals ensures that each trainee has a specifically designed educational program. Where clinical training is interdigitated with the program, the clinical program director reports on the clinical progress to Dr. Jeffcoat. Program structure will also include internal and external advisory committees.